The
good and bad figs; man's unfaithfulness and God's
unfaithfulness
Two things attract our
attention in chapter 24. First, submission to the
judgment of God when He executes it is the proof of
intelligence in His word—of real spirituality. Want
of faith leans, not on the stability of the promises,
but, under pretext of the promises, on that of the
ordinances and of the men who enjoy them. Those who
submit to this judgment of God upon the unfaithfulness of
man (a judgment which leads to the enjoyment of these
promises, and operates to the setting aside of
ordinances, the stability of which God had not
guaranteed; but in connection with which man would, if
faithful, have enjoyed the promises)—those, I
repeat, who submit to this judgment, shall enjoy the full
and entire effect of these promises, to which it is
impossible that God should be unfaithful. The second
thing to be remarked is that, when God would encourage
the faith of those who submit to His judgment (being led
by this submission to a holy conviction that man has
deserved it), God stops at nothing short of the full and
entire accomplishment of the promises, which depend on His
faithfulness, whatever may have been the
unfaithfulness of man—an accomplishment which can
and shall be enjoyed solely by means of a work of God in
man, that will bring him into a condition suitable to
this accomplishment (see v. 6, 73. The position of the
people at the time of Jeremiah's prophecies furnished an
evident opportunity for the development of these two
principles; for the people and the house of David had
entirely failed in their faithfulness to God. It is very
afflicting, and very humbling, when we are obliged to
confess that God's enemies are in the right. The only
comfort is that God is in the right (Ezek. 14: 22, 23),
and that in the end He cannot fail to accomplish His
gracious promises.
Jeremiah 24 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
Two things attract our attention in chapter 24. First, submission to the judgment of God when He executes it is the proof of intelligence in His word—of real spirituality. Want of faith leans, not on the stability of the promises, but, under pretext of the promises, on that of the ordinances and of the men who enjoy them. Those who submit to this judgment of God upon the unfaithfulness of man (a judgment which leads to the enjoyment of these promises, and operates to the setting aside of ordinances, the stability of which God had not guaranteed; but in connection with which man would, if faithful, have enjoyed the promises)—those, I repeat, who submit to this judgment, shall enjoy the full and entire effect of these promises, to which it is impossible that God should be unfaithful. The second thing to be remarked is that, when God would encourage the faith of those who submit to His judgment (being led by this submission to a holy conviction that man has deserved it), God stops at nothing short of the full and entire accomplishment of the promises, which depend on His faithfulness, whatever may have been the unfaithfulness of man—an accomplishment which can and shall be enjoyed solely by means of a work of God in man, that will bring him into a condition suitable to this accomplishment (see v. 6, 73. The position of the people at the time of Jeremiah's prophecies furnished an evident opportunity for the development of these two principles; for the people and the house of David had entirely failed in their faithfulness to God. It is very afflicting, and very humbling, when we are obliged to confess that God's enemies are in the right. The only comfort is that God is in the right (Ezek. 14: 22, 23), and that in the end He cannot fail to accomplish His gracious promises.